Thursday, January 23, 2014

Michoacán: One Child is Templario, the other Autodefensa, the Conflict Tears a Family Apart

Borderland Beat

Sra. Maria del
Carmen shares her tragedy, because one of her sons belongs to one group and her
daughter to the enemy side.

(Eduardo Jiménez foto below)

18/01/20147:15JCVargasandMiguelGarciaTinoco/Correspondents

TANCÍTARO, January 18 -

The story of Dona Maria del Carmen illustrates one
consequence of the conflict in Michoacán: a tragic division between families.

Her son Ephraim spends hours
clutching a rifle and risking his life, in the event that members of the Caballeros Templarios should show up. At the
same time Valeria, her only daughter, has joined the ranks of this criminal
organization and even forced her own mother to leave their home.

“No sooner had my husband died,
my daughter came and threw me out of the house. She said she belonged to the
“people” (Templarios), and needed to
sell the house to make a little money. Her husband and some gunmen came up to
me and forced me to hand over the deeds to the home”, she said.

And the conflict persists unabated,
in spite of the fact that this past Wednesday the paramilitary group announced
it would hand over its weapons, as part of an agreement with federal and state
authorities.

Yesterday, members of armed
civilian groups from Parácuaro got within five kilometers of the municipal seat
of Apatzingán . They advanced to the community known as Hacienda de la Huerta,
and installed a barricade at its main access point to monitor who comes and goes.

Brother and sister on
opposite sides

At every moment, Doña María del
Carmen’s heart contracts and threatens to break into pieces. At times the widow
leaves behind her peddler’s cart loaded with sweet and spicy tamales to
approach one of the town barricades where her son Ephraim spends hours
clutching a rifle, risking his life in the event that members of the Templarios should show up one
day.

At the same time, tears come to
her eyes when she recalls how one fateful day her daughter decided, along with
her husband, to go over to the other side.

She recounts how her Valeria left
to join the Templarios and how one afternoon she came back, “but only to
throw me out of my house.”

She does not want her neighbors
to find out that Valeria is now residing with the enemy, out of fear that they
will retaliate against her daughter or decide to take the law into their own hands.
But she can’t stop suffering every time she happens to see her in town and
remembers what happened the last 15th of September.

“No sooner had my husband died, my
daughter came back and threw me out of the house. She said she was a member of
the “people” (Templars) and needed to sell the house to make a little money.”

“That evening she, her husband
and some armed men came up to the house and took me to a school named El
Molinito, where I was forced to hand over the deed to my home."

It not only hurts that they have
thrown her out of her own home, but even more so that it was her own daughter
who instigated it.

"The only thing I could tell
her was ‘May God forgive you for what you are doing’. Now, every time I see her,
she simply ignores me.”

She says that street vending earns
her enough to pay for a small room away from the street where her home was. "I
just wish that God would take pity on me and remove me from this world.”

However, Maria del Carmen still
takes care to pray for her son Ephraim and to ask that the Templarios never come near. “He says he wants to be
a cop and I fear that one day something will happen to him.”

She knows that her son is just a
few steps from where she sells her tamales, and every moment she can spare she
brings him black coffee and bread. She tries not to look at him, because she
gets extremely nervous just seeing him with a weapon in his hands.

Ephraim and Valeria are their
mother’s only children, and they both know that they stand in enemy camps and
that one day fate might catch up with them. They don’t speak and prefer to
avoid each other.

“Fight over the house?...and why?
With the pennies that I earn it suffices to pay the rent and to bring coffee to
my son so that he can stay awake during the mornings.

“For whom have I cried the most?
For her! I shall never forget that my own daughter threw me out of my house.”

Autodefensas,
a stone's throw from
Apatzingán

Members of the self-defense
league of Parácuaro have come to within just five kilometers of the municipal
seat of Apatzingán after advancing to a community known as Hacienda de la
Huerta.

These
self-styled members of the Communityreached this site located just steps from the urban area of
Apatzingán, where they put to flight a cell of the Templariosgroup, who left behind
five rifles and two vehicles.

In this way, the armed civilians
who have been trying for three months to get to the heart of the Tierra
Caliente are now about to succeed, and it is expected that by this weekend they
will have reached the city, whose security is presently in the hands of federal
forces.

“It was a peaceful takeover
without bloodshed, some tactical equipment and weapons were secured in the area.
Their owners (the Templarios) promptly
fled; the weapons that we have on us are our dignity,” said one of the masked
men who entered the Hacienda de la Huerta.

He added that this community,
like other municipalities in the area, is plagued by the insecurity caused by the
members of organized crime.

Members of this self-styled Communityhave installed a single barricade
at the main entrance to the city to monitor who goes in and out and to identify
those who might wish to engage in extortion or to commit all kinds of unlawful
acts against the population, most of whom are quite poor.

On Wednesday, January 15 in Tepalcatepec,
during a press conference given by Estanislao Beltrán Torres, general coordinator
of the AUC in Michoacán, he declared that the organization would gradually hand
over its weapons, in accordance with an agreement with federal and state
authorities.

The coordinator, who also goes under the nickname, Papa Smurf, stressed that the group would not relinquish
all of its weapons, so that citizens located in the districts occupied by the paramilitaries
would not be left totally defenseless.

When questioned on that occasion
by representatives of the media, Estanislao Beltran did not rule out the possibility
that they could continue their advance towards other municipalities.

Starting in February 24, 2013, when
the first two self-defense groups arose in Tepalcatepec and Buenavista, the
main leaders of the Communityidentified Apatzingán as one of the prime objectives of their
advance, in keeping with their determination that this area had the greatest
presence of criminal groups.

Eduardo Jiménez foto

Source: Excelsior

Note from Chivis:

I was contacted by Mr. Robert McGehee, a professional translator of several languages, who is working in the Czech Republic. He offered his services, on a limited basis, and pro bono, to assist in getting information out about the narco war in Mexico.

To the contrary Michoacan is a state under siege. I read these diot bangers here who like to talk about CDS (jealousy I guess), but as a Sinaloense I can tell you that from Culiacan to Mazatlan my family and friends haven't endured mafia robbing us, raping our kids, and extorting our business. Zetas tried with BLO in Mazatlan in 2011-2012 but the people and CDS showed them that arming our homeless orphans wasn't gonna work like it does in NL, Tamulipas and Veracruz and Sinaloenses were not having it. Move your dope north but don't victimize the civilians. Millinio, LFM, CT all too stupid and greedy to understand this and now they will burn and good riddance.

That ungrateful bitch is a piece of shit i woulve hanged her.and use her as a piñata. And them templarios are planning somthn big they keep following them they gona run into a dead end there gona go all out before there done

Cowards who kill UNARMED people,and throw poor mothers out of their only home dont go ",all out",they go part out,then they die or run away.It takes Righteousness to stand and fight for a good cause and have real balls.

Them templarios are running from the very hand of God, when God is with you noone can stand against you, cant you see the Almighty breaking the the jaw of the cartels. VIVA LA AUTODEFENSA!! VIVA CRISTO REY!!

Don't cut yourself short chivis. I am also a professional translator, you do a great job at paraphrasing, which is the method that should be used in this type of translation with so many idioms and parlance. Often, it is best translated by a person familiar with speech used commonly by a specific group, but easily lost in translation, that would be you.

to 3:19you actually counted?you are an idiot. i counted 41 with 20 michoacan but various aspects of the war there

Wake up! michoacan is where the news is at the moment. I bet bb is getting massive view count because this is the place to read about it. I am new here but saw retweets on the twitter page of the editor of the san diego reader and decided to checkout this blog myself.

5:15 your inferior analytical skillz got you posted ain't you happy?i am floored by your brainy analysis missing from the rant,maybe they were left out to deprive us from the fun we would have making fun of them and you, BB really lets us down,but take heart,your immense suffering will carry you places when you learn your place,and how to crash our party.just wondering, have you ever been explained why your sucky postings don,t make it in? l'd guess you have made it in a few times, so how would you know you have been made fun of and feel ridiculized by the inferior posters.hint, post somewhere else and rise hell about BB and their inferior fans,some of us would love to read your postings full of analytical insighti garrantee we will find out and follow you,but i can't garrantee that some assholes won't make fun of you,especially i, me, and myself, atentamente: chivis paladin, 1st btn. grammar slaying volunteers.

What a brave mother. She is an inspiration to all of us. She may have lost her home, but what truly brings purpose and happiness to her daily life is to be close to her son and be able to bring him coffee every morning. May Glod bless her soul!!!

I have lived in Michoacan all my life, and I can tell you that this situation is rare (one child CT, one autodefensa) but that what is NOT rare is for a mother to not be troubled by her daughter's involvement with criminals until it has a direct impact on their family.Mothers in Mexico (or at least Mich) are so obsessed with having their daughters marry someone rich as young as they possibly can that they don't care if the man is a narco. As long as the man is rich as marries the daughter when she is very young, it makes the parents look good, and they are too stupid to ever think of anything different.I may sound very critical of my people, but I say these things only because they are one of the root causes of this terrible situation in all of Mexico. Men only want money, and women only want expensive weddings, and our people (90%+) take what they need to satisfy these irrational obsessions because they are too STUPID to have any foresight about what it does to our country.I have no faith in our people anymore. All the whining little 13 year old girls who want to marry narcos have no one to thank but themselves and their ridiculous pressuring parents for ruining their lives and their country.

And Chivis, thanks also for posting the article. This situation is a powerful reminder of what some families are going through. If you were my mom (which would be super cool) I wouldn't do anything this disappointing :)

She kicked her own mother out of her house so she could sell it and use the money to support a gang of low-life criminals? Her own mother. What a little bitch, this is why I dont have kids, I would end up in jail the first time they fucked up, I can`t stand selfish little asshole brats like this one.

Thanks for posting my comment Chivis, i don't really think you suck and do appreciate that you bring these stories you bring to light. i also think most of your commentators here are half wits. not all, some have good insight, but pretty much everyone who responded to my original comment, missed the mark in their responses....here's a perfect example:

"Might be your grammar skills, they f^$#ing suck. You're welcome."

only a friggin idiot would worry about grammar on a blog! I also think the folks who criticize your translating are ungrateful idiots. the first principle of writing is to know your audience and since neither you or I consider our writing on this blog to be a thesis or technical paper, we focus on the content and not the grammar...seriously, everyone here worried about grammar and translating are huge idiots unworthy of being engaged in convo

anyways, you never answered my question about advertising dollars from this page and getting donated to the ADs you support, or your thoughts on why its taking folks from the US to win against the CTs? it makes me suspect about US Govt involvement, when many of the AD leaders were former US residents and not locals.

Grammar and punctuation are need to convey your message as you intended ( sure a few misspellings are ok) but when you can't understand what you're ( not your) are trying to say, then it matters. For example: Helping your uncle jack off a horse or helping your uncle Jack, off a horse

THANKS FOR SHOWING US YOU KNOW HOW TO USE GOOGLE TO LOOK UP THE DEFINITION OF WORDS....YOU DON'T KNOW WHO OR HOW MUCH I HELP FOLKS IN LIFE. EVEN IF YOU POSTED YOUR REAL NAME, ADDRESS, AND SOCIAL SECURITY # , IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE THE WITS TO POST SOMETHING SUBSTANTIVE. iN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW, THE UNABOMBER WAS CAUGHT BECAUSE SOMEONE RECOGNIZED HIS WRITING STYLE. I'M GIVING CHIVIS ENOUGH CREDIT TO ASSUME SHE CAN DETERMINE WRITING STYLES AND KNOWS WHO'S WHO TO A DEGREE, EVEN IF THEY POST ANONYMOUSLY. I COULD BE WRONG HERE, BUT IM GUESSING SHE MIGHT SEE IP ADDRESSES AS WELL. THERE IS A BIG STORY OUT THERE, THAT NO ONE HAS TOUCHED UPON ON ANY BLOG, BUT THAT IS GLARINGLY OBVIOUS TO ANYONE WHO FOLLOWS THE CARTELS AND HAS CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS. i DON'T POST ABOUT IT HERE BECAUSE I'D HATE FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO TAKE THE CREDIT FOR IT. i TAKE STAND, WHERE I CAN SEE WHO I'M FIGHTING, FACE TO FACE. TO DO OTHERWISE, IS AGAINST EVERYTHING i'VE LEARBNED FROM sUN tZU...NOW GO EAT A CAMOTE

Unabomber was caught because his brother turned in him. If it weren't for that reason, he would've never been caught or he would've been carrying terrorist attacks a lot longer. Kaczynski was a lone wolf former college professor.

at 11:48 PM "Lets not lose track. This is about a mother and her two children! Not how good somebody types"Right on brother,but they do have to deal with some complete idiots.I think i read in the story that the girls father was a Templario,but for the daughter to have made her mother homeless?It must be ingrained somewhat as she was growing up?Who knows,it boggles the mind regardless.I hope the mother and her son prevail through all of this mess,,exacerbated by pathetic and downright useless government .AVANZAR AUTODEFENSA

I don't pay much attention to comments posted by analyzing if they have a writing style. In the old days of BB most of the regulars proudly attached a user name to our comments...I don't understand why people don't. It seems they don't believe in themselves.

That said, Buggs and BB gets no money, Don't ask for it and don't want it.

Before the plane crash Dr Mireles agreed to an interview. He was going to talk directly to BB readers about the need for an ambulance so if people wanted to donate for the cause. But for a direct appeal for money, you will never see that here on BB. Yes I am sympathetic to the cause and yes so it seems other reporters, but our contribution is by telling the story of Michoacán the hot spot in the drugwar.

I did not see your questions before, so I am sorry I did not reply until now, I am not the only moderator and if the boss is moderating he will post comments to me I may never see, if it is important just try again "attention chivis" or email me chivis.martinez@hushmail.com

I bet if you asked the daughter why she kicked her mother out she would say "I needed money to support my family". I don't think I've ever heard a narco admit they were just into crime for themselves. If you asked the zetas why they committed the San Fernando massacre I bet it would also be "to support my family".

"that said, Buggs and BB gets no money, Don't ask for it and don't want it."

Chivis your blog has link for advertisements...does that mean people get to advertise for free?

i personally don't have anything against you and honestly believe you and your blog do a lot of good by informing folks. But i have to question the advertisement option which lead me to believe you make money off advertisements...thanks for setting me straight. i think we both both wants whats best for Michoacan, as I'm a Michoacano too.

"just wondering, have you ever been explained why your sucky postings don,t make it in? l'd guess you have made it in a few times, so how would you know you have been made fun of and feel ridiculized by the inferior posters.hint, post somewhere else and rise hell about BB and their inferior fans,some of us would love to read your postings full of analytical insighti garrantee we will find out and follow you,but i can't garrantee that some assholes won't make fun of you,especially i, me, and myself,atentamente: chivis paladin, 1st btn. grammar slaying volunteers."

HERE'S SOMETHING FROM EITHER SUN TZU OR MACHIAVELLI...IT GOES LIKE THIS : A SMART PERSON CAN PRETEND TO BE DUMB, BUT A DUMMY CANNOT PRETEND TO BE SMART...QUIT TRYING TO BE SMART AND ACT LIKE YOU CAN CLOWN ME, YOU CAN'T...DUMMY!

That mother has bigger balls than the coward cartels! That mothers sole purpose in life is her children, NO GREED INVOLVED!!! The parasitic cartels on the other hand are big cowards who hide behind their weapons and kill just because they feel threatened. They make me sick!!! Caballeros my ass!!! Going to an old woman and taking her home, that makes them tough!!! What ever happened to chivalry! They have disgraced the word caballero!!!

chivaaa! thanks for the smiley,do you really know?@3:38, you said yourself you are being made a clown and have been ridiculosized by the inferior posters, i guess after being allowed to post.i can't find the analytical skills anywhere, just some opinionated rants,full of bile and envy of some that while posting comments that you may not like, look way more professional and pretty than yours,no history, no philosophy,no legal analysis,no prognostications that would redeem your intellectual pretenses,no curriculum.even stunt tztunt, would be ashamed that you use his good name to support your popo building,another battle lost for him by his studious fans. maquiavelly would be proud of me for advocating for BB's letting you come to my hands,there you go,you stepped into the rat trap,now you can go back happily to the swamp you came from,and take with you the insight that you "can't share",less somebody steal it,what a lame ass excuse.who said there is nothing new under the sun? not much i add,unles a new kick in the ass is much news to you...goodbye,don't let the door hit your ass too...

Dear Chivis Paladin :I would put money on it , only 1 person, that I know of, writes with such wit...another giveaway is your use of a few stand out words, which are particularly well loved by you and used by no one else in my world....it's all good....Paz my friend.

6:38 BB Grammar Authority...You made me LOL. It reminded me of a new salesman named Jack.. Salesmen were required to write on the weekly calendar their days off.

On his first week...he writes on Wed and Thursday "Jack Off",after the first week, he changed it to "Jack is Off"

that aside, many of our readers are ESL or just writing off the cuff, it matters not, unless Uncle Jack needs help off a horse, and even then the majority of people won't care and most people hate grammar police

"Grammar and punctuation are need to convey your message as you intended ( sure a few misspellings are ok) but when you can't understand what you're ( not your) are trying to say, then it matters. For example: Helping your uncle jack off a horse or helping your uncle Jack, off a horse"

I READ EATS SHOOTS AND LEAVES. HOWEVER RULE # 1 OF WRITING REMAINS TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE AND I KNOW BY YOUR POST THAT YOU ARE SMART ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND MY POST EVEN THOUGH IT LACKS GRAMMAR THIS IS A BLOG AND NOT A LEGAL DOCUMENT WHERE GRAMMAR WOULD MATTER..........BY THE WAY IM NOT ANGRY BUT WRITING IN CAPS TO DISTINGUISH MY POST FROM THE REST...THAT SAID I WON'T DO IT AGAIN TO AVOID IMPOSTERS DOING THE SAME

Ben Franklin, the old womanizer that conquered the heart of the french women that helped him get it om with the king,said "we better hang together, or we will hang separately"The United States of America, will hang together, a few turds will be shed here and there, but the people's cause will prevail sooner or later,whatever the price,we are more than the chickenhawks their spawn and their sicarios.Ted Kaczinsky, the great mathematician,child genius,harvard graduate, much devoid of humanity, took a wrong turn for the environment's cause. now he sits in jail,we should carefully watch our steps and not fall on the traps our impatience may lay on our way,no matter how pretty they may appear to be,or how easy,there is always a price to be paid.ted's brother,another teacher,recognized his writings from his manifesto and reported it to the FBI,leading to the arrest,a job well done; lesser men would call it snitching,i say hail to the snitches, whatever it takes to keep crime down and out, only cockroaches crave "the darkness of quiet rooms".

9:46 carretro durango mazatlan,i am sorry i had left you so alone for so long,since you posted to the mexico hating illiterates about the great state of affairs regarding the great shape of the the mexican finances and government as reported by blackrock's fink's,being captivated by all that. @ new tijuana cartel...tuesday Oct 8 2013i just wanted to add that when mexico started exploiting oil around tabasco, global financiers ran to lend mexico great big loans,on the basis of all that oil,mexico was going to progress al fin! goodbye poverty!soon, oil prices dropped,mexico had to give all the oil away to pay the interests on the loans,and give away many other things and a whole lot of more money,and take more loans and credits, on top of austere economic measures,devaluation of the peso etc.the propaganda got everybody suckered in,much like the propaganda about PIMCO coming to the help of the mexicans that you so fervently advertized... my question now is: do you still feel the same? i hope you post something, i'd really be grateful if you answer aaight? best regards,gratefully for whatever you can do...

a while ago, i asked my friend to interpret for me with the boss,and employer,and to tell him "que no estuviera chingando conmigo",the man says to tell you to not fuck with him, and my friend told the boss i said to tell him to go and fuck himself,we were lucky we didn't get fired. in reality all i wanted was for the boss to leave me alone and stop pestering me,because i was doing an excellent work,good enough for the boss not wanting to replace me,that is where good translators become invaluable, and their contributions welcome and apreciated

@10:53 aawww! you could post flowers in you post,or some undistinct analytical slop and distinguish yourseelf from us the ignorant rabble,i have seen that it didn't go too well for you ass,i'm amazed by BB posters,never expected so many mosquitos zeroing in on your arse,don't be cynical,admit you cried an we will have pity on you,but not much,aaight?

3:38 just because you act dumb,it doesn't mean you are not a clown, it is being obtuse that keeps you on your obtuse trap,obtusely trying to avoid the consequences of being obtuse, i don't have anything to do with your statements, ever wonder why nobody gives you a thumbs up? heeeyyyy!!!! you can post anonymous praise to yourself and win...

5:51 "golden chunks" ...does gold leaf stick to popo?aaight, girls school fight is over, back to point said the next president of the US Chrispy Cristy, i think the daughter's boyfriend/ct/husband wanted the house, to cash in or to keep it,and with the help of his ct buddies,came to back up the takeover, ladies really should see who they hook up with, no matter what the age, be aware of pimps,and if that is what they want, by all means,go ahead...

5:51 who? to who? from who?chivis sez to post the time you answering to, so the proper person can come up with the worst, i mean, the wrong, i mean, the correct answer, we are anonymous and that is bad enough, otherwise, "puras balas frias" dijo El Ferras. BB does what they can, and has an army of anonymous fans, we know where our hearts are for the most part, and do not mind the least bit being corrected, but to abuse somebody, on top of being wrong, is wrong. atte. woodstock the red baron... ( charlie brown's very own)

warning to BB posters,and i mean it,for the last time: not spelling right may cost you the presidency of the US, dan quayle the vicepresident with g h w bush, once corrected a young man's writing, because of orthographic issues, made him change POTATOS To POTATOES, that extra E cost the vicepresident the candidacy, and with it the presidency, so if you are planning something,BB readers, you better watch out...